The Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild: An Illustrated History - Softcover

Jacobus, John L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0786471611 ISBN 13: 9780786471614

Publisher: McFarland & Co, 2012

Synopsis

The Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild was a national auto design competition sponsored by the Fisher Body Division of General Motors. This competition was for teenagers to compete for college scholarships by designing and building scale model ""dream"" cars. Held from the 1930s through the 1960s, it helped identify and nurture a whole generation of designers and design executives. This richly illustrated book presents the history of the Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild, from its inception as a philanthropic project by the Fisher family during the Great Depression, to its expansion overseas, and finally to its end in 1968. Many former participants in this famous model building and design competition share their memories and photographs of their models, some of which are startlingly inventive even when viewed today. Virgil M. Exner, Jr., Charles M. Jordan, Robert W. Henderson, Robert A. Cadaret, Richard Arbib, Elia 'Russ' Russinoff, Galen Wickersham, Ronald C. Hill, Edward F. Taylor, George R. Chartier, Charles W. Pelly, Gary Graham, Charles A. Gibilterra, E. Arthur Russell, William A. Moore, Terry R. Henline, Paul Tatseos, Allen T. Weideman, Kenneth J. Dowd, Stuart Shuster, John M. Mellberg, Harry E. Schoepf, and Ronald J. Will, are among those designers and design executives who participated in the Guild. The book also describes many aspects of the miniature model Napoleonic Coach and other scale model cars the students designed.

About this title

Review:

wonderfully researched, diligently executed piece of social and automotive history. Unique, real American history, and great fun. Highly recommended--Choice; ""interesting...informative...marvelous...highly recommended""--Old Cars Weekly; ""one of the most intriguing automotive books of recent times...definitive...a treasure""--Cars and Parts

About the Author:

John L. Jacobus, a former Guildsman, is a retired auto safety engineer. He works as a technical writer and safety management consultant in Silver Spring, Maryland.

About this edition

• Publisher: McFarland & Co
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0786471611
• ISBN 13: 9780786471614
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 359